The present invention relates generally to computer storage system fault diagnostics, and more particularly to identifying performance-degrading hardware components in computer storage systems.
Enterprise storage system are computer data storage systems designed for large-scale, high-technology environments of modern enterprises. In contrast to consumer storage, it has higher scalability, higher reliability, better fault tolerance, higher complexity, and a much higher initial price. As enterprise storage systems grow in size and complexity, a single input/output (I/O) operation can involve multiple hardware components and span multiple tiers of software and hardware components. Fault isolation is important in enterprise storage systems in order to decrease down time.
Enterprise storage systems can be broken down into sub-systems that include primary storage, backup storage, and archival storage. Primary storage houses data that end users are actively accessing. Backup storage stores copies of information in primary storage for use in disaster recover situations or in other circumstances where a secondary copy of data is advantageous. Archival storage stores outdated information that is advantageously stored for compliance purposes. In some enterprise storage systems, primary, secondary, and archival storage provide different qualities of service and often utilize different types of computer storage media.